Keys to Better Coaching

Keys to Better Coaching

By Dana Phillips.

In an earlier blog I gave you a working definition of positive accountability as it relates to your role as a direct selling leader. Remember that when you coach someone on your team you want to create a safe place, stay positive, and proactive. And remember to ask permission!

So what are the keys to doing that? Positive? Proactive? Safe?

First, hold your team member to what she/he wants to do.

Aww, that is hard! Especially when you want all of them to work as hard as you. I know you want them all to maximize the compensation plan, work the business to help you make your numbers, and move up the ladder.

Here’s the deal, and if you don’t get this, you will never be the coach they need or the coach you want to be. You have to find out what they want. Not just what they think you want to hear. Not just what works in your plans. Not what they dream they want. Find out what they really want! Specifics, timelines, effort, and emotions that give you (and your team member) a clear picture of what she wants.

Second, find out how your team member wants to achieve the accomplishment.

It amazes me that you think the only way to succeed is to do it the way you did it. Now, of course, when you read that, you think, “No, I know there are other ways!” But you would be surprised the assumptions great direct selling leaders make about how one of their team members will succeed. And if you operate on your assumptions, you may never discover your team member can get the same result faster, or more efficiently, or even better. So when you hear an alternative way to get what she wants, stop yourself and say, “I don’t know if that will work, but you will find out.” Say it, mean it. If it doesn’t work, she can always course correct with you right there to assure her that she can experiment.

Third, follow up in the way your team member wants to be held accountable.

Some may want you to check up on them. Some may want a spouse or friend to be their accountability partner. Others might want to check back with you. Find out what your team member wants. If it doesn’t work, you can always change the method of accountability.

In fact, you and your team member can change the goal, the strategy, the follow up, and even the way in which she is held accountable. It is well documented that when an adult makes choices that they own, they are more likely to succeed.

At the end of the day, isn’t that what you want: people succeeding on their own terms, getting what they want. Questions to help you get there are coming in a future blog.

You can do it! You can be the coach you want to be!

Who Helps You with Your Positive Accountability?

Growing as a leader means getting out of your own way; making your words match your deeds. At Team Connections Pro, we support you using the principles of positive accountability. AND IT WORKS! How do we know? Some of the most successful leaders in direct selling have told us. You can read what they have to say. For $47, you can try for a month. If you aren’t changing, then you can cancel with no further obligation.

Dana possesses a unique blend of skills; her experience in the field, her training as a time management coach, her years as an executive and now her work training coaches from around the world position her as an expert in direct sales coaching.